McCrometer | News Releases

Space-Saving Flow Meter for FPSO Vessels Delivers High Accuracy in Marine Applications
Ideal for Measuring Wet Gas, Condensate and Dirty or Abrasive Flows

With its advanced space-saving design, the new high accuracy V-Cone® FPSO Flow Meter from McCrometer is the ideal liquid, gas or steam measurement solution for cramped Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Vessels operating in deepwater or remote areas.

The V-Cone’s unique no-moving parts design provides built-in flow conditioning, which nearly eliminates the upstream/downstream straight pipe runs required by nearly all flow meter technologies. Typical flow meter installations require 10 to 40 straight pipe diameters upstream from the meter and 5 or more straight pipe diameters downstream to eliminate the effects of swirl and other pipeline disturbances caused by valves or elbows that negatively affect measurement accuracy.

The compact V-Cone reduces flow meter straight pipe run requirements by up to 70 percent or more and needs only 0-3 straight pipe diameters upstream and 0-1 downstream to operate effectively. It fits in tight installations aboard FSPO Vessels as well as in sub-sea applications, while also reducing pipe material costs and installation labor costs dramatically. Accuracy is ±0.5%, with a repeatability of ±0.1%.

The versatile V-Cone operates over a wide flow range of 10:1 and supports line sizes from 0.5 to 120 inches. Oil/gas production and refining engineers can rely on the V-Cone Flow Meter for long life and low cost of ownership because it requires virtually no recalibration or maintenance over an exceptionally long life.

McCrometer’s versatile V-Cone Flow Meter is compatible with the demanding standards set by the oil/gas production, delivery and refining industry. The testing of the V-Cone Flow Meter now conforms to the American Petroleum Institute’s API 22.2 Testing Protocol for differential pressure flow measurement devices.

Unlike traditional DP instruments such as orifice plates and venturi tubes, the
V-Cone Flow Meter’s design is inherently more accurate because the flow conditioning function is built-into the basic instrument. The V-Cone conditions fluid flow to provide a stable flow profile that increases accuracy. It features a centrally-located cone inside a tube. The cone interacts with the fluid flow and reshapes the velocity profile to create a lower pressure region immediately downstream.

The pressure difference, which is exhibited between the static line pressure and the low pressure created downstream of the cone, can be measured via two pressure sensing taps. One tap is placed slightly upstream of the cone and the other is located in the downstream face of the cone itself. The pressure difference can then be incorporated into a derivation of the Bernoulli equation to determine the fluid flow rate

The cone’s central position in the line optimizes the velocity of the liquid flow at the point of measurement. It forms very short vortices as the flow passes the cone. These short vortices create a low amplitude, high frequency signal for excellent signal stability. The result is a highly stable flow profile that is repeatable for continuously accurate flow measurement. All of this is possible with a minimal straight pipe run of 0 to 3 diameters upstream and 0 to 1 diameters downstream from the flow meter.